Welcome Future Residents
Greg Gordon, M.D., Vice Chair and Residency Coordinator
As a MetroHealth Anesthesiology resident, you will enjoy an informal, collegial atmosphere while developing confidence in your ability to handle any anesthetic problem. Major advantages will be our active trauma service, our group of wonderful people, dedicated to teaching and providing state-of-the-art, cost-effective care to all, and the major role that you will play controlling your own destiny by driving your own residency program.
Of the more than 13,000 cases done annually by
you and your 12 to 15 resident colleagues and the other anesthesia care team members, you will especially remember many of the trauma-related problems
as powerful facilitators in acquiring knowledge and skill in efficient prioritizing,
resuscitation, managing badly deranged airways and keeping cool under pressure. MetroHealth
is the most active trauma center in our part of the country. An active ground transport system plus four
helicopters are needed, especially during the summer months. You may elect to spend
time on our Life Flight helicopter transport service and take care of on-the-scene
resuscitation. Your Certification in Advanced Trauma Life Support will, of course, be encouraged
and supported.The MetroHealth anesthesiology attending staff, of which there are more than one
per resident, are dedicated to inspiring you and your fellow residents to learn and gradually
assume independence in delivering anesthesia care. At first, you will be eased into your role in
the operating room by working as part of an exclusive team with one Senior Resident and/or Attending
Anesthesiologist. Daily introductory didactic lecture and discussion sessions with all first year
residents will provide educational direction and foster camaraderie. During your first months with us, you
may elect to take advantage of our Mentor-Protege Program by selecting a Mentor
from among your attendings. During your residency, you will develop a special positive
relationship with this individual who will take personal responsibility to help assure
your success in anesthesiology. Starting after the first few months at MetroHealth,
you will begin a series of subspecialty rotations for 1 or 2 months with our various
Clinical Teaching Units, each headed by a talented expert anesthesiologist who
will guide you in achieving the specific written objectives of that subspecialty unit.
You will receive expert training and have ample experience in flexible fiberoptic intubation
and management of acute and chronic pain problems. Two or three educational hours per week,
written exams with questions taken from past American Board of Anesthesiology written board exams,
and mock oral exams with individualized post exam analysis will help prepare you for the
boards. You may elect to participate in our active clinical research program and choose to
present a poster or paper or publish an abstract or paper with our attendings.Your input will be a major factor in designing your experience
as a MetroHealth anesthesiology resident. The Chief Resident is a mandatory member of each of
the three residency program committees. Informal feedback sessions with the program
director, residency coordinators, and residency committee chairpersons provide ample
opportunity for communication, discussion and decision for change.MetroHealth welcomes you to a fun, exciting anesthesiology resident
experience that will facilitate your development into a mature, multi-talented, consultant-level, board-ready anesthesiologist.
Comments from Former Chief Resident
Daniel Meenan, D.M.D.
As I look back at the time spent at MetroHealth Medical Center, I realize that it has trained me to handle virtually any challenging case that I will encounter as an anesthesiologist when I leave the program for private practice in three months. The extensive hands on experience provides the skills necessary to deliver safe and effective anesthesia as well as giving one confidence in one's abilities. The atmosphere and the Staff-Resident relationship is relaxed. The trauma and emergency anesthesia patient management is often under the direct supervision of the Senior Resident on call. This added responsibility is an excellent learning experience. The pain service resident has the unique experience at our program of learning the surgical techniques of implantation of nerve stimulators and infusion pumps. Senior residents actually perform the operative procedure.
The first two years of the program encompass eight months
of general anesthesia training in cardiac, pediatrics, neurosurgery, obstetrics, ICU,
recovery room, ambulatory and pain rotations. The program deliberately integrates the on-call
duties so that expertise in all specialties is enhanced as the resident progresses and
the skills in any one area are not lost.